PathosPathos Pathos is a quality of an experience in life or a work of art that stirs up emotions of pity, sympathy and sorrow. Pathos can be expressed through words, pictures or even with gestures of the body. Pathos is an important tool of persuasion in arguments. Pathos is a method of convincing people with an argument drawn out through an emotional response. argument

Example #1 In chapter 8 of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Tom Sawyer. “He had meant the best in the world, and been treated like a dog—like a very dog. She would be sorry someday—maybe when it was too late. Ah, if he could only die TEMPORARILY!” Tom arouses feelings of pity in readers’ minds by telling how the girl, whom he loved, treated him like an animal despite his honest feelings for her. He wishes he had died and then she would feel sorry for him.

Example #2 In Act V of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. “Then she is well, and nothing can be ill. Her body sleeps in Capels’ monument, And her immortal part with angels lives. I saw her laid low in her kindred’s vaul” Romeos’s servant Balthasar invokes pity among the audience, when he informs Romeo, who was waiting impatiently to hear about Juliet, that Juliet is dead and is buried in her family’s death. We feel sorry for the untimely death of Juliet and her heartbroken Romeo.

Example #3 In Maya Angelou’s “Caged Bird”, pathos is created by presenting a contrast between “the free bird” and “a caged bird”. “The free bird thinks of another breeze and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn and he names the sky his own But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.” We see the words “grave”, “shouts, scream”, “clipped, tied” are associated with a bird in a cage, which makes us feel pity toward that miserable bird.

Function of Pathos We humans are emotional beings and writers know it very well. They introduce pathos in their works to touch upon our delicate sensations such as pity, sympathy, sorrow and, consequently, try to develop an emotional connection with readers. In addition, emotions are part of real life. Thus, by giving pathos expression in their works, writers bring their narratives, characters and themes closer to real life. Furthermore, the use of pathos by a debater in an argument appeals to people emotionally, making it a tool to convince people and change their opinions